The invention relates to a cylinder loading and retaining device for a harness and also to a harness including such a device. In particular, the invention relates to a cylinder loading and retaining device for mounting a cylinder of breathable gas to a harness for a breathing apparatus of the type used by fire fighters. The invention could also be applied to other types of harness, such as a diving harness.
A known harness 1 for carrying a cylinder 3 of breathable gas is shown in FIG. 1. The harness includes a back plate 2 onto which an air or gas cylinder 3 is mounted. At its lower end, the cylinder 3 is attached to a valve 4 and is retained to the back plate 2. Air is supplied from the cylinder 3 to the wearer through the valve 4 and air lines 5, 6 one of which extends to a breathing apparatus and the other of which extends to a pressure gauge (neither shown). A fabric strap 7 is provided towards the upper end of the cylinder 3 for securing the cylinder 3 to the back plate 2 and for preventing the cylinder 3 from sliding downwards.
The cylinder 3 is usually mounted onto the harness 1 in a service workshop. Alternatively, the cylinder 3 may be mounted to the harness whilst the harness is being worn by a firefighter. In order to mount the cylinder 3 to the harness, the cylinder 3 must be aligned with the back plate 2 for insertion through the fabric strap 7. This is awkward and time consuming, particularly as the fabric strap 7 has a tendency to flop downwards. Furthermore, if the cylinder 3 is mounted whilst the harness is being worn, the cylinder 3 must be inserted substantially vertically upwards, which is difficult to do.
A known alternative to the fabric strap 7 is a metallic strap. This has the advantage of having greater rigidity, and thus does not tend to flop downwards. Nevertheless, in mounting a cylinder 3 to a harness having a metallic strap it is still necessary to ensure that the cylinder 3 is aligned with the back plate 2 of the harness. This can be awkward, especially if the cylinder 3 is changed whilst the harness is being worn.
Clearly, it is desirable to enable the cylinder 3 to be mountable to the harness as quickly and easily as possible, for example to facilitate a swift change-over of a used or damaged cylinder 3 to a new cylinder 3. This is especially desirable as the harness is usually being worn by a firefighter at an incident.